Vesey Does It

The 3s got their first win of the season away at Urmston in what is now becoming a typically tight encounter.

Urmston won the toss and put themselves in on a chilly afternoon on the back square at the UCG. This looked like a good idea at first as Tom Lockett began smashing the ball to all areas of the ground. This didn’t last however as he edged one from Paul Vesey (1-26 off 7) and was caught by the safe hands of wicket-keeper Dan O’Gorman for 20.

Fellow opener George Phillips also had a busy afternoon as he proved difficult to remove from the crease. He eventually fell, caught and bowled by Jaydutt Kamath for 68. Jaydutt opting to catch this one mainly with his wrists!

Over 40s player Chris Mitchell made a rare appearance in the 3s and immediately got in among the wickets, taking three of Urmston’s top order in his spell of 3-17 off 7. Charlie Gartside also made an appearance and included the wicket of the dangerous Joel Bowes (32) in his figures of 2-16 off 4.

Despite only having 10 men, Urmston batted their full 45 overs and set a total of 194 for the 3s to chase down.

After last week’s unusually slow start, veteran opener Ross Willard exploded back into life as he partnered again with Alex Jones. Jones fell early and Willard was joined at the crease by youngster Dan ‘Dog’ O’Gorman with the team at 24-1. ‘Dog’ settled early and the pair got the team passed the 50 mark before Willard was caught and bowled for 36.

Drew Hinde joined O’Gorman at the wicket and the pair quickly piled on another 50 to get the team to the 100 mark at drinks.

Hinde forgot to bring his brain back to the crease with him and was bowled for 22 to the first ball of the over after drinks.
Stefan Ray-Hills came in and smashed his way to 17 ensuring that he has hit a 6 in every innings so far this season and after O’Gorman was dismissed for a mature knock of 32, the visitors were left with some work to do. Hasnan Sheikh (4-42 off 10) doing the most damage for the home side.

Paul Vesey and Jaydutt Kamath partnered up and were left to knock off the remaining runs from 12 overs as the visitors found themselves 7 down for 148. Things were going swimmingly until Kamath was bowled for a quickfire 15 in the 42nd over.

With 16 to get from 3 overs, Captain Batty joined Vesey and between them the experienced pair knocked off the remaining runs with an over to spare. Vesey finishing on 39*.

A great effort with contributions from all over the team with both bat and ball ensured the 3s came home with 25pts.